If we claim to love our neighbour

while the hungry queue for food,

are we prey to self deception?

Is perception quite so crude?

If we sit beside our neighbours,

begging for the things they need,

we might share their own injustice

in a world that thrives on greed.

If we punish those with nothing,

blaming them for where they stand,

is this love of friend or neighbour,

do we still not understand?

Love of neighbour is not easy,

cuts us till we feel the pain,

sharing hurt that they are feeling

till they find new life again.

Love of neighbour sets us squarely

in the place where they now sit,

till the richness God has given

builds a pearl around the grit;

till each person shares the comfort

of the love of which we preach,

till we live as fact the Gospel:

none can be beyond love’s reach.

© Andrew Pratt 28/3/2015 (Please include on your CCL return)

Metre 8.7.8.7.D

Tune: BETHANY (Smart)

Written during the Manchester & Stockport District Synod (in response to a Joint Public Issues presentation by Rachel Lampard & Paul Morrison). The hymn was sung at the close of Synod.